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It’s been a whirlwind past couple of weeks for Nicholas Ortner. Having just returned to town from the week-long Citizenship Washington Focus at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center near the Washington, D.C. border, he has barely had any free time in the past month.

From June 8-14, he was attending the American Legion Colorado Boys State at CSU-Pueblo. Then from June 17-19 he was busy with the Colorado State 4-H Conference, where he was selected as the Colorado State 4-H president before heading to CWF from June 21-28.

CWF is a program designated for youth ages 14-19, with the opportunity to strengthen communication, leadership and citizenship skills and to understand the importance of civil and social responsibilities to develop better citizens and leaders. Another key takeaway from the program is being able to exchange ideas while practicing respect, something Ortner will be able to apply to his newly-gained position as president within the Colorado 4-H program.

“I feel that as president, I need to be able to listen to the people and see what they think, not just do what I think,” Ortner explained. “I feel that’s pretty important— being able to listen to other people’s opinions on different issues and being able to respect them.”

While he has made the trip to D.C. three times in the past—for the Junior National Young Leadership Conference, as part of a class trip and to witness the inauguration of President Barack Obama—Ortner said the CWF offered a different perspective and included visits to different sites around the city he had never been before.